Hood latch



Patented Jan. 26, 1926.

EMANUEL L. GRUM, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

HOOD LATCH.

Application filed July' 18, 1925. Serial No. 44,488.

To (all ti 60271 may concern:

Be known that I, EMANUEL L. CRUM, a citizen of the United states and a resident of Indianapolis, county of Marion, and State of Indiana, have invented-a certain new and useful Hood Latch; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts.

This invention pertains to a hood latch particularly adapted for use in connection with latching and securing, the hoods of automobiles, and is an improvement over the structure shown in Letters Patent No. 1,416,463 issued May 16, 1922.

One feature of the invention resides in the means for adjusting the latch longitudinally thereof, whereby it may be lengthened or shortened by simply rotating the barrel to a-length which will exert the proper spring tension for firmly holding the hood in closed position. This .is accomplished in a new and improved manner over that shown in the above mentioned Letters Patent in a still more simple and economical structure as will be hereinafter more fully set forthand described.

Another feature of theinvention resides in the provision of bifurcated side clamping member ass ciated with the hood latch in such a manner as to apply lateral pressure in addition to that applied through the medium of the head or fulcrum lever. l Vhereas it has heretofore been the practice to employ a single laterally projecting member for applying the lateral pressure, such member has permitted wibbling and weaving of the hood and latch, resulting in a c 'aciring sound which is just as annoying as the rattle which it was intended-to overcome. By means of this arrangement, the pressure is equally applied. at two points in spaced relation as to firmly hold the hood in place and prevent the walololing or weaving thereof or any other noise producing displacement.

Another feature of the. invention resides in the anchor for the stem of the latch which permits said stem to have free play, at'the same time holding it firmly in place and permitting of itscasy attachment or detachment from the vehicle.

The full nature the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

F 1g. 1 1s a front elevatlon showing a hood latch of the usual character without the the same as Fig. 1 showing a side elevation with the hood latch disconnected. Fig. 4: .18 an enlarged v ew showing a vertlcal sec- 1 tion through the barrel of the latch and the anchor therefor. Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is amodified form showing a side elevation of thelatch having a barrel structure as illustrated inFig. 4; and provided with side pres sure members. Fig. 8 is the same as Fig. 7 showing a front elevation, thereof. v

In the drawings there is illustrated in Figs. 1 to; 6' inclusive what may be the frame 10 of an automobile andha portion of the hood 11 to be latched or secured thereto. The hood latchcomprises a stem 12 which is square orrectangular incross section as shown in Fig. 5, said stem being provided at its lower end with laterally extending anchor pins 13 which are enclosed and held in place by the anchor plate 14. Said anchor plate is provided with a flange portion adapted tovbe secured to the frame 10 an'dliaving anupwardly extendmgrounded portion 15 formed with a slot 16 through whlch the stem 12 may freely pass. The portion 15 of the opening or slot therein is suiliciently large to permit the free movement oft-he em with respect thereto, but prevent its be.

ing pulled upwardly'so as to become disengaged. It will be obvious that upon removingthe anchor plate 1 1 from the frame 10, the stem may be readily removed therefrom but otherwise it will be heldagainst disengagement although beingpermitted to move freely in any direction. This provides against wear or tearing out the anchor member which is sometimes the case with the usual structure.

The body of the latch comprises the hollow barrel 17 having bifurcated arms 18 extending upwardly from the closed end thereof. The lower end is open and the barrel is internally screw-threaded. Slidably mounted on the stem 12 there is an external screw-threaded disc 19 having a square or rectangular opening to correspond with the shape of the stem whereby it will be nonable thereon.

rotatable with respect thereto, although slid- Th upper end of the stem is provided with a cap rigidly secured thereto. so that the compression spring 21 may be mounted intermediate said cap and disc 19 about said stem. By means of this arrangement, upon the stem and barrel being pulled up when the latch is applied, the disc 19 being in engagement therewith, will also be pulled up against th spring 21 so as to compress said spring against the cap 20. Thus a spring tension is exerted for permitting the latching of the hood. herein it is desired to vary the. length of the latch so as to vary the compression of the spring or permit adjustment for various other reasons, it is only necessary to turn the barrel about the Stem which is held by the anchor 14. The disc 19 being likewise held against rotation will be caused to screw up or down within the barrel so as to vary its relative longitudinal position with respect thereto and thus increase or decrease the length of the latch as a whole.

Mounted between the bifurcated arms 18 of the hood latch there is a latch head com-' prising the portion 21 adapted to engage the lteeper 22 which is rigidly secured to the hood, and a loop handle 23 extending above the fulcrum point which is at 2 1. By reason 03" the arrangement of said parts with respect to each other, it will be noted as shown in Fig. 3, that when the handle portion 23 is pulled away from the hood, the spring tension will be relieved and the portion 21 may be readily disengaged from the heeper-22.- On the other hand, upon engaging the portion 21 with the keeper 22, forcin the handle 23 toward the hood, the fulcrum point 24 will pass over dead center and the tension of the spring will create both a downward and lateral pull upon the latching head whereby it will not only exert a down pressure on the hood, but the handle portion will engage the hood and exert a lateral pressure thereagainst as fully set forth and described in the Letters Patent above referred to.

l/Vith respect to Figs. 7 and 8, the struc ture is identical with that above described with the exception that the anchor member 115 5 provided with two laterally and rear war'll extending arms 25. Said arms also extea d rearwardly into engagement with th hood 11 at a point slightly above the bottom thereof and at an appreciable distance below the keeper 22. However in this instance the anchor 115, instead of being rigidly secured to the frame of the vehicle, has formed thereon rearwardly extending ears 116 which embrace an upwardly extending projection 117 pivotally connected with the anchor plate 119. It will be noted that the arms extend at an appreciable distance laterally so that their hood engaging ends are spaced apart suiiiciently to apply lateral pressure at two distinct and spaced points on the hood, the pressure at both points being equalized and affected through the upward pull of the stem 12 by reason of the pivotal mounting through the anchor plate 118. Such equalized and widely dis persed pressure will accordingly tend to eliminate wabbling or weaving of the hood and accordingly secures it more firmly in place.

The invention claimed is:

1. A hood latch comprising a hollow barrel provided with internal screw threads, a stem adapted to extend therein, a cap on one end of said stem, an adjusting disc provided with external screw threads adapted to screw in said barrel whereby its position longitudinally thereof may be adjusted by its rotation, said disc being provided with an opening through which said stem slidably but non-rotatably extends, and a compression spring mounted intermediate said disc and cap.

2. A hood latch comprising a hollow barrel provided with internal screw threads, a

stern rectangular in cross section adapted to extend therein, a cap secured to the free end of said stem, an exteriorly threaded disc adapted to engage and screw in said first mentioned crew threads having a rectangular opening through which said stem extends whereby said disc will be slidably but nonrotatably associated therewith, and a compression spring mounted about said stem be tween said disc and cap.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

EMANUEL L. CRUM. 

